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This is a work of fiction and, with the exception of the Devil, all
of the characters are fictional and any resemblance to living or dead
persons is coincidental.

A Sea Voyage

We have left Iran and passed through the Strait of Hormuz. We are
pretty much in the clear and headed toward the Indian Ocean. Our
boat is a dhow, but it is a jalibut and is propelled by an engine.
The engine is a modern unit and pushes the boat along at a reasonable
clip, without much noise.

We obtained some antiquities, back in Iran, and we can sell the items
for quite a large sum of money, in South Africa.

The crew of our dhow is the scum of the earth. They are killers,
rapists and such. They would kill me, without hesitation, save that
I’m the only one who speaks English and can deal with the South
Africans.

I have had a strenuous day and I’m asleep, below decks. Suddenly,
I hear gunfire, explosions and men screaming hate. I grab my
Kalashnikov and prepare to deal with the situation.

A man appears at the top of the stairs and fires several rounds at
me. The rounds miss me, but they do puncture the hull.

I use my Kalashnikov and the man at the top of the stairs joins me,
below decks, to be replaced by yet another insane gunman. I again
use my Kalashnikov and another man dies.

There are more explosions and the sea pours into the dhow.

I try to get to the stairs, but a third man appears at the top of the
stairs and, by the time that I can kill him, the dhow is headed for
the bottom of the sea, weighted down by the engine. There’s
another explosion and I black out.

A Meeting With the Chief

I awake, as several dim shapes attend me. I am cleaned and barbered
a bit. I am then provided with clothing, such as a middle eastern
tourist might wear, for a journey across the desert. I am then
pushed through a door and I find myself facing what appears to be a
very large man, sitting behind a table. The man appears to be very
tall, perhaps seven foot tall or more. He is very handsome, movie
star handsome.

The man lectures me. “James, you are a thief and a killer. You
were drowned, when the boat that you were on sank. However, you were
surrounded by some items of religious significance. After a bit of
consideration, it was decided that you might be useful. If you wish
to survive, you will work for me.”

Choosing my words carefully, I answer, “It would appear that I have
no choice, but to work for you. May I know what sort of work it is
that you want me to do?”

The man looks at me for a bit. He says, “James, you are large and
strong.” He then pauses.

Sensing that I am expected to reply, I say, “I am six feet six
inches tall and I weigh, or at least I weighed about 255 pounds. I
have dealt with strong men and have found no one stronger than I am.
It might be that some sort of trained weight lifter is a bit
stronger, but I am also agile and I can move better than most men.”

The man again lectures me, “You can and do use your strength to
defeat other men, often killing your opponents.”

I reply, “As a child, I was forced to memorize useless lies. I was
then vomited out, into a world where the lies that I was taught were
not only useless, but dangerous to me. Several boys then tried to
force themselves on me. I defended myself. Several of the boys
died. I was then judged to be a criminal. I did only what was
necessary for me to survive. Then, with my criminal past, I could
only find work with real criminals.”

The man again lectures me, “James, you can use firearms, at an
expert level.”

I answer, “I found
that I was an expert shot with either a rifle or a pistol. I can hit
stationary or moving targets, at usual ranges. I am also an expert
level user of assault rifles. If my firearms run out of rounds, I
can use a club or knife, at an expert level. I can also defend
myself in unarmed combat situations. I have had any number of
occasions to test myself, in combat situations.”

The man stares hard at me and asks, “You have no problem with
killing people?”

“I have found myself in several situations,
where either I or my opponent or opponents had to die. I did what I
had to do, to survive. I have never lost one minute of sleep
worrying about what I did.”

The man then lectures, “James, you stole religious objects.”

“I stole ancient objects, that I hoped would
sell for a great deal of money. I was not aware that they were
religious objects, nor would it have made any difference to me.”

The man then lectures me, “I need some religious objects. If you
can get the religious objects for me, I can pay you well. The
process of obtaining the religious objects may require the killing of
people.”

“I have no problem with the idea of killing
people. However, I do need a safe place to hide, after the killing
is done. The authorities do have a problem with my killing people.”

The man grins at me, “James, I can provide you with a safe place to
hide, after any killing.”

“I will also need a safe place to hide and work
out, before I do any killing. I depend on my reflexes, my strength
and my conditioning to defeat those who oppose me.”

The man seems amused, “You are then a professional. You prepare to
do that which you are sent to do and try to insure the maximum
probability that you can get your work assignments done.”

“I need to work hard, eat right and do what
specialized training that a specific assignment night require.”

The man nods yes, “You have the physical capability and you also
can think. Using your mind can prevent you from getting into
situations where you can’t survive. I can use a man like you.”

“I will do my best.”

The man then lectures me, “James, I will give you an assignment. I
will then have you delivered to a place where you can obtain
transportation. You will have such equipment and financing as you
might need. You will be rewarded for success and punished for
failure.” The man then claps his hands.

Some sort of servant appears and leads me off. The servant gives me
a backpack and then leads me to a cabinet. He motions me into the
cabinet.

I enter the cabinet and there is a brief period where I’m in a sort
of dark, shifting haze. I then find myself in some sort of ruins.
The only thing that I can see, that might be of some use, is a
railroad station across a road and not too great a distance away. I
exit the ruins and walk along a dusty rural road, to the railroad
station.

I enter the station and I sit on a bench, inside the station. Then I
examine the contents of my backpack. I find an itinerary and what
appears to be a railroad ticket. The first item of the itinerary is
that I’m to take a railroad trip, to a specific station. I get up
and walk over to what seems to be a railroad agent. I show the man
my ticket.

The man takes my ticket and says something to me, in a language that
I don’t understand.

I’m a bit confused and the ticket agent shows me a new ticket, with
a time printed on it. The man then points to a clock on the wall of
the station. The time on the wall clock is about a half hour short
of the time in my new ticket. The man says, “Half hour,
Englishman.”

I nod yes, which may not mean anything to the man and I say, “Thank
you, in English.”

The man nods yes and smiles.

A train then pulls into the station.

I go out, into the loading area. I see some sort of agent and
several locals, who look like they might like to harass an
Englishman. I, as they say, throw a flex, under my travel clothes,
and the locals apparently decide to wait for the next, perhaps more
likely, Englishman. I show the agent my ticket.

The agent smiles and says, “First Class.” He points further up
the train.

I walk up to the first passenger car in the train and try to board.

Another agent appears and checks my ticket. He smiles and says,
“Welcome.”

I smile and then find myself a seat, in a sparsely populated train
car and begin to study the items in my backpack. I am to take a long
train ride, actually several long train rides and then a sea voyage.
The sea voyage will take me to a place called Belize, a place that I
have never before been to. In Belize I will make my way to a Mayan
temple, in the jungle, and there obtain some sort of religious item.
I am then to travel to some sort of religious place, in a Caribbean
island. I find money, a change of clothes, a shaving kit, a pistol
and a list of Belizean travel services.

To my delight, at least the first class train passengers are served
some sort of meat and rice dish, with an unknown vegetable on the
side. I also get a cup of mint tea. I eat and refreshed, I then
doze until the train reaches a stopping point.

I’m then directed to change trains. I don’t speak the language
and I worry a bit.

However, my train ticket does the work for me and I then board
another train, at the direction of a train agent. I again travel,
for a time. I use the travel time to do a bit of isometric exercise,
to try to increase my already considerable strength.

I keep alert and I don’t find anyone who seems interested in me.
There are now more people in the first class car, but they seem to be
just couples or business people.

A conductor comes by and punches my ticket.

By now, it’s getting dark and most of the people settle in for the
night. I begin to doze again, but I wake to the sound of one of the
passengers walking up the aisle. The walker tries to knife me, as he
passes. I draw him in, break his neck and discard him, into the
aisle.